Claren’s Dad worked in Albertan oil and gas and also the world is ending because of climate change, and sometimes it’s hard to hold both. As deeply personal as it is deeply researched, I love the smell of gasoline picks apart why it’s so hard for her to let go of fossil fuels — all against a backdrop of whimsical projections masterfully executed live on stage by a team of analogue overhead projectionists.
The project was born of a frustration with divisive Canadian politics, rampant hypocrisy, and a lack of team spirit when facing impending doom. It unpacks some of the forces that drive global warming and Western alienation in a personal account of what it is to live in a modern, capitalist environment, be a self-serving organism, and also care about the earth and fellow creature kind.
What does it really mean to sacrifice and to survive? How can we harness our agency and responsibility in a global crisis?
We’re still collecting donations. If you would like to help make all our art dreams come true, you can donate here!
Expanse Festival
March 28-30 2025
Westbury Theatre
Edmonton, AB
We are so excited to be taking this show to Alberta as part of the Expanse Festival!
Tickets are sliding scale! (Suggested $35, but Pay-What-You-Will!)
Showtimes:
March 28 at 7pm
March 29 at 3pm and 7pm
March 30 at 3pm
Photos by Raf Antonio
2023 Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominee
Outstanding Scenic and Projection Design
Independent Theatre Division
“whimsical and informative … cosmic and intimate.”
- Istvan Dugalin
“Autobiographical but not self-indulgent, poetic but not overly abstract, emotional but not too sentimental or saccharine …
a stunning, confessional piece of theatre.”
- Aisling Murphy, Intermission Magazine
“Grosz is such a magnetic, grounded performer”
- Glenn Sumi
The Artists
Claren Grosz - Creator, Performer, Co-Director,
Projection Designer
William Dao - Co-Director, Production Dramaturge
Taylor Zalik-Young - Production Stage Manager
Elyse Waugh - Projectionist
Liz Der - Projectionist
Caleigh Adams - Projectionist
Echo Zhou - Original Set and Lighting Design
Alison Yanota - Associate Set and Lighting Design
Jessica Hiemstra - Set Installation Artist
Christopher-Elizabeth - Composer
Sage Lovell - Deaf Performer, ASL Translation
Cherish Violet Blood - Dramaturgical Support, Consultancy
Michelle Robinson - Consultancy
I love the smell of gasoline premiered in March 2023, presented by Nightwood Theatre with Elyse Waugh, Jesse Wabegijig and Stephanie Zeit as projectionists and collaborators. It was presented as a work-in-development as part of the RUTAS International Performing Arts Festival in October 2022. It was also workshopped in 2021 for the CAMINOS Festival with Jay Northcott, Emily Jung, Taylor Zalik-Young and Lu Linares as projectionists and collaborators. All of these folks’ participation helped shape the visual score of the piece.
The production features projected drawings courtesy of the talented Emily Jung. The performer has been styled by Ami Blaxland.
I love the smell of gasoline has been developed with dramaturgical support and consultation from Andrea Donaldson, Cherish Violet Blood, Michelle Robinson and Keshia Palm.
Thank you to the people who helped make this show a reality over the years: Technical Director Theo Belc (who also consulted on our Edmonton Tour), Deaf performance coach Gaitrie Persaud, hearing interpreters Rogue Benjamin and Savannah Tomev, and understudy Rachel Cairns.
ASL Performances
We partnered with Sage Lovell, Deaf artist, writer and entrepreneur, to create an integrated ASL performance. Alongside eachother, Sage and Claren deliver a connected performance.
Photos of Sage Lovell and Claren Grosz by Eden Graham
This project was developed and presented with support from Nightwood Theatre, Aluna Theatre, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council with funding from the City of Toronto.
